St Barts The Great...

Further along our walk, Ashlynn and I visited London’s oldest parish church, St Bartholomew The Great, which was founded in 1123. 

Exquisite Pain by Damien Hirst, Britain’s most successful living artist, depicts the brutal end of St Bartholomew, who was skinned alive. Hirst’s creative twist was using an anatomical model holding a scalpel as the knife. Hirst said: I like the confusion you get between science and religion...that’s where belief lies and art as well. 

Unlike most other London churches, this one managed to survive the Great Fire of 1666 due to the old walls of the Priory acting as a firebreak before the flames could reach the church. 

Colloquy by Sophie Arkette celebrates the letters and poems of medieval visionaries. It is a commentary about the importance of the rule of law, love and chivalry. 

The Tudor Gatehouse marks where the nave would have ended prior to the dissolution of the church in 1539. Interestingly, Benjamin Franklin once worked within the church grounds.
 

A Banksy Summer...

Just two days after seeing the Banksy in Walthamstow, Ashlynn and I set off to see a few more for what later turned out to be an entire series of animal murals popping up all over London. 

These monkeys appear to be swinging across a vine below the train bridge crossing over Brick Lane, an area known for street art.

Later we made our way over to St Paul’s to see this City of London Police Box that Banksy had covered with piranhas....

...which was my favorite of all the Banksys that popped up in London in 2024.

By that time, it was surrounded by barriers and had multiple guards trying to prevent onlookers from getting run over in the street. 

 

Above and Below...

Jimmy was excited to find an affordable and removable solution to create some shade on our terrace so that he could work outside on warm days. He was thrilled to find some thick curtain rods left on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. He bought some long thick plastic pipes at the hardware store to zip-tie to our railing, into which he inserts the rods and then attaches a camo netting. 

Jimmy’s office actually doesn’t have enough desks for everyone, so he has to work from home once or twice a week. Nice that he has the option to work outside.

August 11, 2024, was warm enough that a bunch of kids went swimming in Shadwell Basin despite all the warning signs forbidding swimming. 

That evening we went for dinner in Soho with Ashlynn and some of her friends before heading to the venue for that evening’s DJ set. Other than having security at the door, it wasn’t obvious upon entry that Cuts was more than a hair salon, We went down some stairs into the basement which is used as a small venue for music, comedy and community group gatherings.

Ashlynn was thrilled to DJ side-by-side with Bud, who was known as Rosie when the two of them co-managed the community radio station in Glasgow.

It was cool to see her brother again, who we had met in Holland when the two of them stayed with us in March 2023. 

After their set, Jimmy and I headed home from Tottenham Court Road Station, which has some very cool mosaics... 

…and long tunnels. 

 

More Street Art...

Gods Own Junkyard was in an industrial park with several small brewers and distilleries with colorful entrances.

We also passed some cool street art on our walk back to the station. 

That evening we hosted Julie, Thomas and Alan for pizza and cocktails on our terrace.

 

Neon Museum.

Our main destination in Walthamstow was the Neon Museum...

…known as Gods Own Junkyard. 

We truly enjoyed exploring this eclectic gallery of custom neon signs.

 

Street Art in Walthamstow...

Ironically, I had already planned for us to go to Walthamstow on August 10, 2024, when I learned that there was a new Banksy in this northeastern part of London. After walking through the extremely underwhelming Walthamstow Market, which is Europe’s longest outdoor market, we headed to Bonners Fish Bar.

We weren’t the only ones visiting this fish bar on a random neighborhood street corner. 

Any idea of having a fish lunch was quickly shattered as the shop was shuttered for the summer. What a lost opportunity for the owners, who later learned that their chippie had made international news. 

Love how Banksy incorporated the sign so it looks like the pelican is grabbing a fish from it. 

Our long walk around the Walthamstow Wetlands and to a unique gallery also passed by some other cool street art...

…and this Mini Food Bank Project where people could leave canned food for others.

Since most of Walthamstow is full of modern suburban homes and apartment buildings, this Tudor building really stood out.