LONDON CALLING

Just before Xmas, I found myself back in London for a weekend, staying in Watford, in order to visit the Harry Potter Studios nearby. To make the most of the weekend, we did the usual tourist trip into the city, with a view to visiting some favourite locations and some new ones.

As my grandchildren are  big fans of Paddington Bear, it made sense to see where he arrived in England and pick up some souvenirs. The hustle of the station on a wet Saturday evening, meant that camera photography was awkward, although I did see quite a number of expensive cameras in evidence over the weekend. Personally, I opted for my phone and the Fimo app again, with the X-Red film, that I really enjoy. The earlier Hipstamatic app with its hundreds of film/lens combinations came into play in Chinatown, one of the busiest parts of the city.

Getting around was problematic, having a four year old in tow and a toddler in a pram, especially on some of the older, deeper Tube stations, with lots of stairs and steep escalators. However, once at the platform, the excellent service whisked us around the city in no time.

Although in was a week before Xmas, decorations and festivities seemed thin on the ground and trees and lights were in use only sparingly.

Around Chancery Lane, I found lots of fascinating passages and alleys snaking between the buildings and once more, the juxtaposition of medieval stone and modern chrome was striking.

As I was part of a family group, I had to grab what opportunities I could to take shots, as I risked losing everyone else as I dashed into alleys to get the best angle!

However, as always, London rewarded my curiosity with some amazing architectural sights and some oddities scattered about on my walks.

Crossing London Bridge, I was able to use the camera, but unfortunately, did not really see much that I hadn't shot before and again, having to play keepy-up with the family, it was something of a race! The Shard always fascinates me and I tried to get what I would call the definitive shot from a distance.

Borough Market was crowded and stimulating with wonderful food and drink on offer at every turn, but given the literal press of bodies, it was almost impossible to wield a long lens, especially while holding a hot pie!

Camden Lock was as busy as ever, but provided little in the way of new angles, despite its riot of colourful characters and hundreds of  stalls.

With Camden exhausted, after an early start, we decided to visit Notting Hill and Portobello Road - two places I had been wanting to visit for some time. I had  watched 'An American Werewolf in London' and the eponymous 'Notting Hill' some days before, to get in the mood for the area and scouted a couple of locations while I was there. Tottenham Court Road tube station featured heavily in the former and the famous 'blue door' and Notting Hill Bookshop were thronged with people taking selfies next to the sites.

Portobello Road with its miles of street market stalls was everything I could have wanted from suburban London, amazing little mews shops, great food, antiques and wonderful architecture. The only trouble was the crowds, again it was so busy it was impractical to get more than the odd snap in between browsing the stalls and keeping hold of a heavy camera.