Victoria House is a Grade II listed building designed by Charles William Long next to Bloomsbury Square in Holborn. It was built in 1926 for the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society which was founded in 1843 as a burial society (providing voluntary subscriptions for the funeral expenses of members) and is now better know as LV=.
The Lloyd’s building, sometimes referred to as the Inside Out Building, for obvious reasons, is the headquarters of the insurers Lloyd’s of London.
This striking statue on the bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow is a memorial to British citizens who fought in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. Created by sculptor Arthur Dooley it was unveiled in 1979. The statue is based upon Dolores Ibarruri, known as La Pasionaria (The Passion Flower), a female politician and prominent anti-fascist from Spain.
This large public square in front of Birmingham Council House is, unsurprisingly, named after Queen Victoria. Prior to 1901 however it was known as Council House Square. A parish church was on the site first, from 1813, followed by Birmingham Town Hall (1832-1834) and then the current Council House. One of the central features of the Square is this statue which I was amused to discover on researching this post is known locally as “Floozie in the Jacuzzi”. Now a flower bed it was part of a water fountain up until 2013 when irreparable faults led to the water being permanently turned off.
The Town Mission Ragged School in Brook Street in Nottingham was built in 1858. Ragged schools were developed from an idea of John Pounds, a Portsmouth shoemaker, who believed that poor children should have basic schooling rather than being sent out to work. The Earl of Shaftesbury then formed the Ragged School Union in 1844.
This statue of a female nude called Awakening can be found in Ropers Garden on Chelsea Embankment. She was sculpted by Gilbert Ledward in around 1923.
I love snow. Nothing quite makes me smile like wandering through snow taking photos, even if it’s cold and I’m being battered on all sides by wind. Obviously with lockdown I couldn’t travel far but when it snowed here on Sunday I did have a good wander around my neighbourhood and get my exercise in for the day.
Dating from 1874 this granite green painted plinth with a design of oak leaves and acorns with two climbing boys is just by Albert Bridge on Chelsea Embankment in London.
Opposite Liverpool Street Station in London, 162-164 Bishopsgate was built as a fire station in 1885 in a pastiche of the Tudor Gothic style using red brick and Portland stone. A really stunning building with some intricate decoration well above eye level.
Stonebridge City Farm has been a lovely place to visit during all sorts of iterations of lockdown in England. They’ve lost a lot of money having to keep opening and then closing again so if you could donate a little something here that would be great. My last visit pre-Christmas was to see their new calf – Orion – as well as some of the other photogenic residents.
