I don't have as many pictures of sites around the UK as I should, I think that is the problem with not being a tourist in your own country.
These are a couple of photos I took of a Lunar Eclipse as I saw it from my back garden on the 4th March 2007. I haven't altered the colours at all.
Probably the most famous London landmark is the Palace of Westminster, the Houses of Parliament. Although the majority is not that old, the majority only being finished in 1870 to a design by Charles Barry, The oldest part is Westminster Hall, which was built between 1097 and 1099 by William Rufus. The most famous bit of that is the tower usually referred to as Big Ben, whereas in reality Big Ben is the biggest bell in the tower (weighing 13.8 tonnes), named after the bulky Welshman Sir Benjamin Hall, who was First Commissioner of Works from 1855 to 1858 and whose name was inscribed on the bell.. The tower itself is over ninety-six metres high and simply called the Clock Tower and is possibly one of the most photogenic structures I know, especially when lit up at night.
Much of London looks lovely at night. Especially those things along the embankment. A construction that was built to cover over the newly laid underground sewer pipes, so narrowed the Thames but gave an excellent promenade. Along the embankment one can find "Cleopatra's Needle" an ancient Egyptian obelisk flanked by a pair of bronze sphinxes.
The London Eye is supposedly the world's largest Ferris wheel and affords views across the capital. At night it is lit up to look pretty and with different timed exposures, it can seem that it is travelling much more rapidly than it is in actuality. In reality a full revolution takes approximately half an hour.
When a friend and I went to Cirque de Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall, I got this shot with my phone, hence the graininess. I then accosted some of the cast, with whom I cajoled a photo, which is hopelessly out of focus (phone-cam again), before getting a snide shot of the performance.
Westminster Abbey is just over the road from the Parliament buildings. This is a big place, old too. There was an abbey on the site from before the turn of the first millennium, that is a long time ago by anyone's standards. It is the final resting place to numerous kings and queens as well as writers such as Auden, Burns, Byron, Carroll, Chaucer, Coleridge, Handel, Keats, Kipling, Longfellow, Milton, Shakespeare, Sheridan, T.S. Eliot, Tennyson, Thackeray and Wordsworth. Quite a role of honour.
As I was en route to a Dan Flavin retrospective (lots of fluorescent bulbs in uninspiring arrangements), we saw these boys playing around in the fountain nearby.
St. Paul's cathedral is one of the world's most famous and attractive. It is the only cathedral in the country named after a saint, otherwise they are always named after their location. It is also absolutely huge with views from above the cupola across London.
On Harrow on the Hill, in the church cemetery there, is a grave that Lord Byron used to like to use to chill out and write his poetry.
The two most famous university cities in the country and internationally reputed as seats of learning, Oxford and Cambridge, combined to be called Oxbridge. These are photos from Cambridge as I didn't have my camera with me in Oxford. Unfortunately the weather didn't help when I was there, but it is still an impressive looking place.
On my way down from Scotland, I stopped off to see Anthony Gormley's "Angel of the North" the largest sculpture in Britain and something that has quickly become an icon. Now having seen it in the flesh so to speak, I can appreciate it more. Although from a distance it can look like a plan that crashed tail first. From each angle, it has a distinct look.
Durham Cathedral has a distinct look to it and is also bloody massive. Awesome, is no doubt what the architects wanted. That's what they got.
Here is a picture of the White Cliffs of Dover, "The Key to England" with Dover Castle on top.
One of the charms of Britain is some of the great place names. The residents of Ugley must hate telling people their address.
The Police forces in the UK are the only ones left in the world who do not carry firearms as standard practice. In Hamptonshire the constabulary have experimented with a system of baffling the criminals by wearing pantomime costumes. Think about it, it would be more difficult to shoot or abuse a police officer with a Viking helmet or one with an England flag wig on, as it would seem anti-patriotic (photo 1) although it is appreciated that they are wearing emblems that are emblematic of what they do (the two coppers in photo 1 are wearing pig's snouts, or maybe not). The policeman in the second photo is showing the piratical half-blind nature of the constabulary.
Don't be deluded these are real police officers. ---- Who can you trust?
Driving around the Isle of Dogs, in London's Docklands, saw this quite probably the world's most baffling traffic light. We then worked out it is actually a sculpture, at first it just had us confused.
At a concert I went to, these miniature bikers were enjoying the attention they got.
