Greenwich Skyline 65 Years Later

Comparison of the skyline as seen from Greenwich Park in 1953 and yesterday. The park itself is little changed except for fences to stop kids rolling down the hill (our favourite game as children)

Greenwich Shifted and Tilted

At the beginning of our day in Greenwich, I used the Tilt and Shift lens. By mistake I had the barrel of the lens in the wrong orientation when taking a view of Canary Wharf (the barrel has to be rotated for portrait orientation shots) which gave a tilt to the plane of focus so it is horizontally through the centre of the image. I corrected this for the next shot but, in fact, rather like the effect in the first image. I can see why it is called the toy town lens. Tilted shots inside Canary Wharf, 

 a  shifted image of the Painted Hall  and a bit of both for the Chapel at the Naval College

A Walk along the Thames at Greenwich I

For once, I had to admit to an overcommitment of time and pulled out of attending the PAGB Finals in Ormskirk as I needed Friday and Saturday to catch up with life after the 5 days of chaos with the grandchildren. I was sorry to miss the event but pleased to hear Cambridge did well - just missing a place in the Final 8 by 1 point and coming second in the plate by 1 point. 

By Sunday things were straighter and I felt able to join the CCC trip to Greenwich led by Alan Clarke - many thanks for a great day out. These images are from the end of the day - I will post more from earlier in the day when time to sort them. The panorama shows the area visited. We started our day in Silvertown where we parked and then by DLR to Canary Wharf. Here we refreshed with a coffee, took a few images and then used the DLR to Greenwich Cutty Sark area. We took the SouthThames path along and round the Greenwich Penisula to the O2 building; then by the Emirates Cable car back to Royal dock area. The day was grey and overcast until we arrived at the Crystal building when the skies cleared to give lovely evening light over the Royal Docks.

Up and Down in Greenwich

This image looking down to the Thames from the steps of the Naval college had the feel of an old oil painting due to the architecture and the old ships.When you look more closely at the clothing and the distance and it brings it back to the 21st century. If I had thought it would have been good to get the ships from the north bank as then the scene would have differed little from Canaletto's famous 1750's image 

The following images look up and down and also in the first 6 images compare a fisheye 15mm with a 24mm lens. The last two are also fisheye images.

 

Tall Ships at Greenwich

We made the journey down to Woolwich and Greenwich to view the Tall Ships Festival. We were disappointed by the number of Tallships moored at these two sites and the lack of a parade on the Sunday but enjoyed the general atmosphere and the Greenwich  venues as usual. Here are the ship images from the day -  the first one of the Grayhound Lugger is my favourite as there was still mist around looking towards the sun.

Greenwich Enderby's Wharf

Enderby's Wharf  has a history of more than 150 years of production of submarine communication cables and associated equipment, and is one of the most important sites in the history of submarine communications. The structure below guided the cable onto the cable-laying vessels. closed finally in 1994

Woolwich

The trip to Woolwich was a nostalgia trip for me as I was born in Woolwich and lived in Charlton close by until I was 18. 

• We visited  the Woolwich Royal Arsenal, which had carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces since 1670s until its final closure in 1994. It is now being developed as a residential area. Assembly is a sculpture by Peter Burke made up of 16 hollow figures standing in a cluster. The cast-iron quarter-ton body moulds give the optical illusion of a convex face - the fact that the right and left sides are in focus while the face is slightly out shows the concave nature of the sculpture.
• We stayed in the newly opened Travelodge which occupies the The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) building in Powis Street.  This store opened in 1903; the statue is of founder Alexander McLeod (1832-1902).  It has been empty for a decade. The front of the Italian Renaissance-style grade II listed building, its clock tower and dome have been restored and incorporated into the new hotel.
• Opposite an Art  Deco extension was opened in 1938, designed by the company architect SW Ackeroyd. The metal Crittall windows are a notable Art Deco feature, the same firm did windows on the Titanic. It is semi derelict but there are plans for its redevelopment.We sampled the excellent fooed in Woolwich's Choice Cafe and travelled back north on the Woolwich Free Ferry.