Blue Wall

London's Olympic Development Agency has put up a long blue wooden fence around its construction site in East London. The section along the Lea Valley Navigation (canal and towpath) has just been decorated with logos and contributions from local schools. You can see the reflection of Hackney's Gainsborough Primary School in the frame.

Summer is Here!

11 May 2008 - Cycling north on the Lea Valley towpath from the Walthamstow Marshes, I passed Springfield Park - at the north end of Hackney. This taken with my Nokia N95 on Automatic with a +1 stop exposure adjustment to let in more detail in the shadows

The Undercroft, South Bank - London

Skateboarder, BMX cyclists and grafitti artists make for a bit of underground culture.

Art from The Undercroft, South Bank between BFI Southbank and Queen Elizabeth Hall

Newington Green - London Plane Trees in Lights

Located in northeastern Islington, Newington Green is an oasis in a busy part of North London, complete with playgrounds, grassy areas and good zebra crossing (pedestrian crosswalks) helping to put people, rather than traffic, first. You can easily reach Newington Green on London Buses. Routes 21, 38, 73, 141 all cross the Green.

Lighting up the Yuletide

Harriet Tory

I never met Harriet but her violent death as a lorry collided with her bicycle in this busy London junction moved me to post this collage. According to local press reports, there have been several serious bicycle-vehicle collisons at this junction over the past year. How many more cyclists must die before planners and engineers responsible for traffic safety undertake preventive measures? This junction is large and vehicles can cross unhindered at high speeds - especially dangerous if motor vehicles and cyclists are in competition for road space within the junction.

Borough Market, London

Stoney Street Cafe
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Fresh from the sea at Applebee's in Stoney Street, Borough Market, London
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Organic vegetables, meats and herbs abound
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Jams and relishes - you can sample before you buy
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Borough Market, London

A ‘must’ for both residents and visitors, Borough Market has a large selection of fresh food, including meat, fish, vegetables, spices, breads, as well as flowers, wine, and desserts. Eateries abound serving breakfast and lunch – or go for a coffee or a pint on Stoney Street. For more information, go to:
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/aboutus.html

Butterfly and Bees, Sissinghurst Garden, Kent, England
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Lillies in Sissinghurst Garden, Kent, England
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Buckingham Palace is open for visitors during August
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There is another way!

Cycle Lane to Heathrow (M4/A4 corridor)
David A. Smith, 2005
(Nikon Coolpix 4500 handheld)

Does this have to be? We are consuming vast quantities of fossil fuels to power heavy vehicles in all-too-crowded roads designed in generations past. Fortunately, London planners have constructed many miles of segregated bicycle lanes. I am researching an article for a cycling magazine on access to London's Heathrow Airport by bicycle. Yes, there are actually cycling routes and the total time required to reach the airport from Central London (75 minutes at around an 11 mph average speed) is comparable to a typical multi-modal journey (taxi to Paddington transferring to the Heathrow Express) considering waiting time, walks to and from the trains, traffic delays, etc. Not to mention saving 40 pounds and burning a few calories.

Goslings on Regent's Canal

Canadian Geese Goslings on Regent's Canal, London
David A. Smith, 2003

Geese, mallards, coots and herons are increasingly active on London's canals as the breeding season begins.

Support the South Downs National Park Designation

Bee on South Downs, David A. Smith, 2004

England's southern 'lip' is a chalk ridge rising to over 800' above sea level and running east-west just a few miles north of the English Channel in Sussex and Hampshire counties. This has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has been proposed as a new national park. Farming, grazing and recreation co-exist on the South Downs in a world seemingly very distant from nearby urban centres. Follow this link:

South Downs Virtual Information Centre

Dunwich Dynamo, July 2005

Please see the link below for details on this year's ride.

http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk/dunwichfaqs.htm

Dunwich Dynamo, 1 August 2004

David A. Smith, 2004

Suffolk, England - 1 August 2004. Just after sunrise on a misty, cool morning somewhere east of Coddenham. Two cyclists overtook me as I stopped to take a photo of the old oaks. The Dunwich Dynamo is a loosely-organised overnight bicycle ride scheduled each year on the weekend nearest the full moon in July. Starting in London (Hackney, London Fields) around sunset, riders travelled northeast through the Essex suburbs and countryside with a middle-of-the-night food & rest stop at the Village Hall in Great Waldingfield, just east of Sudbury, Suffolk. From there, riders continued northeast - about 20 miles to the location of this photo - and on to the North Sea coast at Dunwich. The last few miles pass protected heath land and the shore is something from a bygone era.