LondonLife – Rainy evening…

LondonLife – Scenes from Chelsea…

The Chelsea Flower Show returned to London this week with King Charles III making his first visit to the show as monarch and tributes in honour of his coronation and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last year. The show runs until 27th May. For more, see www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea.

King Charles III visits The Chelsea Flower Show 2023. ALL PICTURES: Courtesy of Royal Horticultural Society/Chelsea Flower Show 2023
Princess of Wales Kate Middleton visits RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. She is pictured on Savills Garden designed by Mark Gregory.
‘A Letter from a Million Years Past’. Designed by Jihae Hwang. Sponsored by Korea Forest Service, Hoban Cultural Foundation and MUUM Ltd. Show Garden. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Stand no 328.
Chelsea pensioners eating at meal in the Savills Garden. Designed by Mark Gregory. Sponsored by Savills. Show Garden. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Stand no 324.
RHS Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration featuring a bust of King Charles III. Designed by Dave Green. Feature Garden. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Stand no 111.
The Biophilic Garden Otsu – Hanare’. Designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara. Sponsored by Glion and Ishihara Kazuyuki Design Laboratory. Sanctuary Garden. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023. Stand no 280.

LondonLife – The Tower and City of London from another angle…

PICTURE: Zetong Li/Unsplash

LondonLife – Coronation preparations…

A banner announcing the coronation of the King Charles III on the 6th of May. PICTURE: Devis M/Shutterstock
A stage erected in Westminster Abbey ahead of the coronation. PICTURE: jpellgen (@1179_jp) (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Decorations in Carnaby Street. PICTURE: dom fellowes (licensed under CC BY 2.0/image cropped and straightened).
The Household Division rehearsing three cheers for the King which will be called at the end of the Coronation procession. PICTURE: Corporal Rob Kane/© MoD Crown Copyright 2023.
Six F-35B Lightning jets above RAF College Cranwell in a rehearsal for the Coronation Flypast that will take place over Buckingham Palace. The full flypast will involve more than 60 aircraft, including the iconic Red Arrows and historic Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. PICTURE: Andrew Wheeler/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023
Coronation banners in New Bond Street PICTURE: dom fellowes (licensed under CC BY 2.0).

LondonLife – Rush hour, St Pancras…

PICTURE: George Petca/Unsplash

LondonLife – Rehearsing the Coronation Procession…

Members of the Household Mounted Regiments leaving Buckingham Palace in a rehearsal of the Coronation Procession. More than 6,000 men and women of the armed forces will participate in the coronation next month in the largest military ceremonial operation for 70 years. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023.
Rehearsals at Buckingham Palace for King Charles III coronation. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023.
Approaching Buckingham Palace as part of rehearsals for the coronation of King Charles III. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023.
Members of the Household Mounted Regiments provided the escort for a number of royal coaches from Buckingham Palace up the Mall to ensure timings and pacing was correct for the coronation next month. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023
Image of drum major’s new State Ceremonial Uniform of the household Division, taken at The Royal Military Chapel (The Guards’ Chapel) in London. PICTURE: Sgt Donald C Todd/UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023

LondonLife – Taking flight…

Geese in Richmond Park. PICTURE: John Cox/Unsplash

LondonLife – Shad Thames walkways…


In Bermondsey. PICTURE: Nicolas Lysandrou/Unsplash

LondonLife – Ending looms for ‘Executions’ at Museum of London Docklands…

An executioner’s axe is among items on show at the Executions exhibition, Museum of London Docklands. ALL IMAGES: Courtesy of Museum of London Docklands.

Museum of London Docklands’ major exhibition, Executions, has less than a month to run, closing on 16th April. This week sees a special late opening on Friday night (24th March) with a candlelit evening featuring screenings, pop-up talks and tours. There will be execution ballads sung live and a selection of exhibition-inspired drinks available as visitors have the chance to explore some of London’s grisly past before the doors clang shut for good. For more, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/whats-on/exhibitions/executions.

Laying out the vest King Charles I was executed in.
‘Final clothes’ and the Newgate prison door on display in the exhibition.

LondonLife – Buses on Piccadilly…

PICTURE: Lachlan Gowen/Unsplash

LondonLife – Van de Veldes inspiration at Greenwich…

Finn Campbell-Notman and Fail We May, Sail We Must. PICTURE: © SKY UK Ltd

British artist Finn Campbell-Notman has been named as the winner of the Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year for his creation of a contemporary seascape inspired by the work of 17th century marine painters, Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son, Willem van de Velde the Younger. Campbell-Notman’s work, Fail We May, Sail We Must, has gone on display at the Queen’s House in Greenwich which is currently hosting the new exhibition, The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea. The new painting was inspired by Campbell-Notman’s personal experience as he found out more about the Van de Veldes while travelling in The Netherlands. “My approach to landscape painting is that a painting is rarely, if ever, a direct transcription from a single view, even those painted en plein air,” Campbell-Notman said in a statement. “One composes and constructs, simplifies, rearranges and perhaps adds certain elements to create a picture. The finished painting is thus a record of a dialogue with what is seen and what is reflected within and want I to transmit; between what is seen and what is felt.” For more, see www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house.

LondonLife – Cycling in Clapham…

PICTURE: Alex/Unsplash

LondonLife – Somerset House goes for a ‘Whorl’…

‘Whorled (Here After Here After Here)’ by Jitish Kallat goes on display at Somerset House in London, as part of the Indian contemporary artist’s first major public UK commission, on Thursday 16th February, 2023. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media.

A new art installation – Jitish Kallat’s Whorled (Here After Here After Here) – has been unveiled at Somerset House. The work, located in the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court, is more than 30 metres in diameter and comprises two intersecting spirals that represent a “seismic ripple” or a galactic whorl which spirals outwards from the centre of the courtyard. The work, which draws upon sacred geometry and alchemical diagrams, features two 168 metre scrolls which follows the visual language of UK motorway signage. As visitors walk through the spirals, they are taken on a journey past signs indicating the distance from Somerset House to more than 300 locations across the planet and beyond including celestial bodies, such as the Moon, Mars, and distant stars in the Milky Way. The installation is free to see until 23rd April.

‘Whorled (Here After Here After Here)’artist Jitish Kallat. on Thursday 16th February, 2023. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media
Whorled as seen on Thursday 16th February, 2023. PICTURE: David Parry/PA Media

LondonLife – London writ large…

Niels Moller Lund, ‘The Heart of Empire’, 1904, © Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London Corporation

A celebration of the artists who have painted London on a monumental scale, The Big City is currently running at the Guildhall Art Gallery. The exhibition, which runs until 23rd April, can be visited on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. For more, see www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/the-big-city.

John Bartlett, ‘Cars and Chaos’, 1995-96, © Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London; Image © John Bartlett
Andrew Carrick Gow, ‘Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Service’, 22nd June 1897 © Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London Corporation

LondonLife – Southbank skating…

PICTURE: Oguzhan Tasimaz/Unsplash

The Southbank Skatepark.

LondonLife – Eye view…

PICTURE: Joy Ekere/Unsplash

Looking south from the London Eye down the River Thames over County Hall and Westminster Bridge.

LondonLife – Tooting Bec Common dressed in white…

PICTURE: Colin White/Unsplash

LondonLife – Bright lights, big city…

PICTURE: Kevin Grieve/Unsplash

View of the Docklands from North Greenwich.

10 most popular posts for 2022 – Numbers 10 and 9…

It’s that time of year again – our annual countdown of our 10 most read posts for the year!

First up are numbers nine and ten… 

10. Where’s London’s oldest…pharmacy?

9. LondonLife – Greenwich Park restoration…

LondonLife – Christmas in London…

Ice skating at Somerset House. PICTURE: Owen Harvey
South Bank Winter Market. PICTURE: David Ogle
Part of the Miracle on Leake Street event in Waterloo. PICTURE: Leake Street
Christmas at Kew. PICTURE: Royal Botanic Gardens
Glide at Battersea Power Station. PICTURE: Joshua Atkins